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Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
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MWmetalhead
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Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:38 pm

...he's not in GR, he's in Kalamazoo!

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/1970 ... kalamazoo/

I actually wish he would come back to WGRD; their playlist sucks ass these days and the stationality has become incredibly stale. The music selections were better, and the creative was MUCH better when he programmed the station.



option1
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by option1 » Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:20 pm

On a side note, K-Zoo is losing a legendary broadcasting professional in Mike McKelly. Consummate pro. Humble guy. Had the talent to work in the majors but decided his family was more important. Glad to see him go out after 30 years with some great memories of doing some great radio in a pretty decent small market.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:39 pm

Wow - I had no idea he just retired! He has literally been there FOREVER, and I mean that in a good way. I completely agree with you; he's a highly talented broadcaster!

I wish him well in retirement.



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Colonel Flagg
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by Colonel Flagg » Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:34 pm

Detroit to Kalamazoo...not exactly what I would call a promotion.


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andymuskegon
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by andymuskegon » Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:16 pm

at this point, who gives a shit? it's all just some list from some format lab anyway. kalamazoo sounds fine to me


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option1
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by option1 » Sat Sep 12, 2020 1:30 am

andymuskegon wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:16 pm
at this point, who gives a shit? it's all just some list from some format lab anyway. kalamazoo sounds fine to me
Agree 100 percent. It’s no longer about market size, its all about survival til your number is called. Fact is you’re a babysitter with zero juice working for washed up VP’s that have no creativity and expect you to follow their outdated rules and laugh at their corny jokes. The biggest requirement to landing any of these gigs is to make sure you firmly attach your lips to the bosses ass.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Sep 12, 2020 8:48 am

WRKR - although I'm not a big fan of its playlist and weak sauced audio processing personally - is a highly regarded station with strong heritage and a West Michigan DMA weekly audience that matches or exceeds several FM stations in the Grand Rapids market. Probably 125,000 listeners 12+ and up cume the station weekly. If we were to include counties in the South Bend and Lansing DMAs that can pick up WRKR reasonably well (Cass, Jackson, Eaton, Hillsdale), perhaps another 15,000 folks can be added to the above number.

Totally agree with Andy and option1 here.

With the way consolidation has gone, and given JT's resume, it would not surprise me if he regains programming responsibilities for some of the GR stations at some point.



Michigan Media
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by Michigan Media » Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:41 pm

Tarrants and his morning cohost are no longer listed on the WRKR website: https://wrkr.com/shows/

Bobby Guy moved from afternoons to mornings. Eric Meier is now listed as the afternoon host.



frankie knuckles
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by frankie knuckles » Thu Feb 11, 2021 4:56 pm

Michigan Media wrote:
Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:41 pm
Tarrants and his morning cohost are no longer listed on the WRKR website: https://wrkr.com/shows/

Bobby Guy moved from afternoons to mornings. Eric Meier is now listed as the afternoon host.
You mean to tell me the legendary garden gnome himself, broadcasting superstar J muthaflippin’ T didn’t light the morning airwaves on fire with his wacky internet news, scintillating time and temperature reports, and creepy laughter?



Realist
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by Realist » Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:45 pm

Just hoping he doesn’t come back to the Cumulus Saginaw cluster...



MatthewMckenzie
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by MatthewMckenzie » Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:19 pm

I quite enjoyed working for/with JT at Townsquare and WFGR. I'm sure he'll land somewhere - hopefully where he wants to be!



option1
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by option1 » Sat Feb 13, 2021 3:37 am

Only five months in market #184? Hope he didn’t sign a one year lease.



Realist
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by Realist » Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:23 pm

RadioInsight.com had an article on the new morning show at RKR today

It still begs the question - what happened to JT? Wasn’t even at this gig 6 months...



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MWmetalhead
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by MWmetalhead » Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:13 pm

Probably worked out for the best. I didn't realize the Lawn Gnome was pulling morning drive duty over there. Based on his prior on-air work, I don't think he is a good fit for that daypart.

His ratings track record as a PD / Brand Manager is darn good in all things rock. WCSX Detroit saw all time record high ratings during his time there.

I'm a little surprised RKR didn't have a better formed succession plan for Mike McKelly in place, although I do really like the move just made.



Freqman
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Re: Jerry Tarrants is back in West Michigan working for Townsquare, with a catch...

Post by Freqman » Mon Feb 22, 2021 3:54 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:13 pm
I'm a little surprised RKR didn't have a better formed succession plan for Mike McKelly in place, although I do really like the move just made.
Not gonna lie, I Iike Benson in this role, but it seems that the timing is strange as he can't be more than a few years from retirement himself. Along with his co-host you've got two 60+ year old men trying to talk to an audience 20-30 years younger. Wonder why Townsquare just doesn't pull the trigger on FBHW for RKR?



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